Redfield's Valentine
by Susan
Summary: When Chris comes down with a cold, Jill visits to keep him company. For those who didnt r/r the first time around, you better do it now. Or else...
1. Awakening

  
Jill Valentine awoke to the sound of rain. Recognizing her own room, (trying to vanquish the horrid memories of her Nemesis-filled nightmare) she arose and walked slowly over to her bedroom window. It was, indeed, raining outside. In hordes. It didnt bother her that much, she didnt plan on doing anything today...   
  
Somewhere in the house, the phone rang.   
  
Chris Redfield was lying in his bed, the phone reciever held tightly against the side of his face, waiting for Jill to pick up. He let out a flegm-filled cough. Chris hated being sick. His body was freezing, but whenever he pulled a blanket on, his body temperature rose alarmingly.   
  
"Hello?", the familiar throaty voice of Jill answered. Chris sniffled and hoarsly replied, "Jill?".  
  
"Chris? You sound terrible."  
"I... I know. I'm sick."  
"Did... did you want me to come over?"  
  
Chris paused. That *was* the reason why he called her. Relieved that he didnt have to embarass himself by asking the question, Chris coughed again.   
  
"That would make me feel a lot better."  
  
Back in her bedroom, Jill silently nodded to herself. She new that Chris didnt have many friends, and that Claire was out boinking Leon, so she was all he had left.   
  
Jill smiled, "Then I'm on my way."  
  
"Thanks Jill."  
"Anytime, Chris."  
  
They both hung up simutaneously. Chris just rolled over in his bed, groaning, while Jill donned her infamous blue-tube-top and miniskirt (what else would she wear?), grabbed her raincoat, and walked towards her rainsoaked car.   
  
Inside, she turned on the heater and waited for the car to warm up. Noticing a picture of herself and Carlos, with their arms around each other, Jill backed out of her drive-way and set off to the supermarket.   
  
In only a t-shirt and Sonic The Hedgehog boxers, Chris stirred in his bed. His head felt like it was going to explode. He glanced at the clock. 10:20 am. The doorbell rang. Chris got up, (albeit incredibly slowly) to answer it. Jill greeted him with a smile and a hug, even though it looked like he was hit with a mack truck.   
  
"How ya feelin, Redfield?"  
"Like I was hit with a Mack truck." (see?)  
  
Jill went into the kitchen, carrying two paper bags. Chris eyed them, "What are those for?", "It's for you, of course", said Jill, bringing out a can of chicken soup.   
  
"Well, why do you have two bags?"  
"I did some grocery shopping."  
"For me, Jill?"  
"Yeah. I just thought you might need it."  
"I'm not *that* poor, dammit."  
  
Jill noticed Chris' nose flared whenever he got mildly angry. 'He's so cute when he does that', she thought, innocently. Chris noticed Jill smiling.   
  
"What?" said Chris, watching her put groceries away.  
"What?"  
"You're smiling."  
  
Jill got impatient. "So?"  
  
"Why?"  
"Cuz you're wearing Sega-Mascot underwear."  
  
Chris looked down and blushed. "This isnt the Ritz, Valentine." Jill just shook her head slowly, and said, "Hey, get back in bed. Your skinny body needs rest."  
  
"Skinny?! I'm as buff as hell."  
"When was the last time you were in a gym?"  
  
Chris, of course, didnt want to admit the last time he was in a gym was when he was 13, so he just made a face, and commented on her wardrobe. "You've been wearing that tubetop ever since they nuked Raccoon City."  
  
"What? You dont like it?" Jill said, looking down at her bustier.   
  
Chris *certainly* didnt wanna say he enjoyed watching Jill walk around in that skin-tight, revealing outfit, and just said nothing. "Just go to bed, Chris."   
  
Reluctantly, he did.   



	2. Interlude

Watching Chris trudge up to his room, Jill pulled up a chair and let out a sigh. She wanted to tell Chris of how she felt about him badly, really badly. Would this have been the opportunity she was waiting for?   
Shaking her head silently, Jill heated the stove top and placed a pot onto one of the boilers.   
Upstairs, Chris wasnt faring much better. Jill Valentine, the woman whom he loved ever since he first layed his eyes on her, was actually *downstairs*, in *his* kitchen, making *him* chicken soup. It was all so overwhelming for him. He wanted so badly to tell her he loved her... and to kiss her softly.   
  
But he was sick.   
And Chris assumed Jill hated him.   
So he was stuck. Closing his eyes, he tried to get some sleep.   
  
Downstairs, Jill put a heaping bowl of chicken soup, a cup of chamomile tea and honey onto a tray and tried to balance it as she walked upstairs. Some of the soup spilled onto the tray, and some of the tea splashed onto the crackers. Jill isnt exactly a waitress, after-all.   
She knocked on Chris' door. No response. 'He must be asleep,' Jill pondered outloud, and she opened the door herself.   
Inside, it was dark. The bed was against the wall, with Chris asleep. Across the room was a Playstation, with a 'Dino Crisis' cd cover laying next to it. Jill pulled up a table next to the bed and placed the tray on it.   
Jill smiled at the sight of Chris snoring. Everything about him was... well... cute. Affectionately, she placed a hand on the side of his face, feeling his skin. It was extremely warm, but strangely comforting.   
'If only this dumb oaf could see how much I feel for him...'  
  
"Hunngh?" Chris moaned, as his eyes fluttered open.   
Jill immediately withdrew her hand, nearly jumping up the wall. Catching her breath, she brought the tv-table closer to the bed.   
"Euh, Chris, I brought you some soup and tea..." Jill stammered, while Chris wiped the crust out of his eyes.   
  
"Thanks Jill... I dont know what I'd do without you."  
A grin poked at the sides of her face after Chris said that. He continued,   
"I'm glad you woke me up. I was... having a nightmare."  
Jill nodded, "That Alexia Ashford thing still gets to you?".   
"Of course, Jill. I was scared out of my mind.   
Just like I'm sure you were... with the Nemesis."  
  
She paused, uncomfortably. Jill hated everything about the creature, even it's name. But it wasn't something that was easy to let go of. And even though she planted an entire round of magnum bullets into it's body before Raccoon blew up, Jill was still deathly afraid of it.   
"You're right Chris, sorry."   
He nodded. Chris didnt mean to bring up a sore subject for her, but it was hard for him too. Nemesis meant Raccoon City. That meant Spencer Mansion. And *that* meant...  
"Hey Chris, I brought over some movies. Wanna watch?"  
"Uh... what kind of movies?"  
"Notting Hill, and Aliens."  
  
Jill had the weirdest taste in movies. But Chris didnt wanna pass up the chance of watching a romance, and an action flick with her. He got up, to get out of bed, but she stopped him.  
"Finish your damn soup first, I didnt make it for nothing."  
And with that, she left his room and went downstairs. Chris didnt understand women... at all. But sometimes hostility means affection...  
  
Downstairs once again, Jill was only half-way towards the living room when the phone rang. "I'll get it!", she screamed out, as she grabbed the reciever and brought it to her ear.  
"Hello? Chris Redfield's... house."  
"Hey, Jill?", the familiar kiddy-girly voice of Claire Redfield rang into Jill's ears.   
"Oh, hey Claire. What's up?"  
"Well, I was just calling to ask Chris if he wanted to go see a movie with me and Sherry."  
"That's nice of you, Claire, but Chris is sick."  
  
"Oh is he?", said Claire, a little perplexed, "and what are you, his maid? This sounds like some bad Showtime-porno."  
  
"Claire! I'm just merely looking after him. That's all."  
"Fine then. Did you want me to come over?"  
"No, we're ok. Besides, there's something I need to tell  
Chris."  
  
"Ahhhaa..." Claire got the message, "I'll leave you two alone then. Seeya."  
"Bye."  
  
Jill hung up, and buried her face in her hands, sighing. Chris yelled from the stairway, "I'm done! Can I come down now?". Jill got up immediately, searching around for the videos,   
"Sure, come on down." 


	3. Discovery

Her hands shook nervously, and she held them together to try and stop it. She smiled weakly for Chris, who did indeed look horrible, but still blazingly handsome - like always.   
Jill brought out the first movie, Notting Hill, and shoved it into the VCR, and pressed play. She sat down on the couch next to Chris, and scooched close to him.   
As the opening credits played, Chris noticed Jill placed a hand on his leg. A shiver went up his body. He certainly didnt wanna object to it being there, but he didnt understand why...  
Jill, who's heart was practically beating so loudly you could hear it, wasnt sure of what she just did.   
'Oh fuck. Did I just... Oh no. If I take it off, he'll ask me why I did it. If I leave it on, he'll ask me why I'm doing it. I'm FUCKED either way. Way to FUCKING go, Valentine.'  
  
Gently, Jill withdrew her hand. Chris didnt say anything, but he was sad to see it go. For the next hour and a half, they watched the accentric-romantic comedy with Hugh Grant running after superstar Julia Roberts again and again and again until she finally agrees to be with him.  
By that time, Jill was asleep. She was cuddled up against Chris, who was holding her gently. He sighed quietly. 'I just hope she doesnt wake up anytime soon'...   
  
Could Jill actually be in love with him? Was she just sending him mixed-signals. Was she playing with his mind like so many other women in his past have done? Thought after thought crashed through Chris' mind. His feelings for her were never anything major - until Spencer Mansion.   
It was when he saved Jill from the damned place when he realized how much he cared for her... and how devastated he felt when he thought he lost her.   
  
Jill was pretending to be asleep. 'Pretty shoddy, Jill...' she thought to herself. But it didnt matter. Christopher Redfield was holding her, protecting her, and it made her feel good. She wanted to return the feelings to him in some way, but she didnt know how.   
The two of them just layed there, in that intimate position, until they eventually both fell asleep anyway.   
  
It was 11:58 am, February 13th. In two minutes, it would be Valentine's Day.   
  
And though they both slept soundly - there dreams werent any better. Chris kept seeing the repeated image of Alexia Ashford killing him, and his sister. Jill would always hear the throaty 'Staaarrrss' in her mind, no matter what. Therapy, earplugs, psychiatry, nothing would help.   
  
Chris awoke with a start, knocking Jill off the sofa, and onto the floor - hard. She grunted, and her eyes opened.   
"Oh god... Jill.. I'm sorry.."  
He helped her up, and brought her to her feet.   
"Are you alright?"  
Jill moaned, and wiped her eyes, still half-asleep. "I'm ok."   
Chris sighed, and brushed her hair behind her ears. He looked up at the clock. 9:04 am.   
"Happy Valentine's Day... Valentine."  
Jill just looked at him. What did that mean? Was he calling her by her last name? Or actually saying she was his Valen...  
  
"What do you want for Breakfast?", Chris asked. He was, and looked remarkably better.  
"Are you still sick, Chris?"   
"...huh, I'm not. Thank you."  
"I... I didnt do anything, Redfield."  
  
"Yeah you did. You came over when no one else would. You took care of me." sighed Chris.  
  
Jill put a hand on the side of his face again, caressing his cheek. It was strangely comforting, for both of them.   
"You know I'd do anything for you", Jill replied, softly.   
"I'd do anything for you, too, Jill."  
  
Chris watched in awe as Jill shed a tear. He'd never seen her cry before, she was always so reserved.   
Jill, on the otherhand, had cried herself to sleep many a time, and although she went out with plenty of guys before, she never knew the feeling of intimacy, or the feeling of being held - both of those she experienced for the first time the night before.   
  
Silently, they hugged each other again. Chris was falling in love with her more and more each passing second. He felt so strongly about her...  
  
It was time to say something.   
  
"Jill... I love you..." he whispered.   
  
Immediately, Miss Valentine paused. Her face was of the face of a deer caught in headlights. 'Did he just...' even her mind stammered to get a competent thought through, 'Did he just say that...'  
  
'Oh god, Jill, say something, dont leave him hanging. Say something. Say ANYTHING!' her mind screamed at her.   
  
"I love you too, Chris."  
  
There. It was all out. For months and months, everything that was bottled up inside, finally came out. The two of them felt relieved, more so now than they felt a year before when they saw the horrid mansion finally explode.   
  
Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine just stood there, in the middle of his living room, holding each other, while outside, snow fell silently to the ground.   
  
"Happy Valentine's day, Jill."  
"You too, Chris. You too."  
  
They kissed each other - softly and tenderly, knowing from now on, everything will be ok.   
  
The End 


End file.
